Ukraine Nuclear Warheads Decaying and Dangerous

By Fred Hiatt
The Washington Post

MOSCOW

Senior Russian generals, pressing for early fulfillment of an arms treaty
brokered by President Clinton last week, said Tuesday that nuclear warheads
in Ukraine are decaying and becoming increasingly dangerous.

Col. Gen. Yevgeny Maslin, chief of nuclear systems in the main directorate
of the Defense Ministry, warned that Ukraine's storage facilities are
overloaded and its nuclear weapons are not being properly maintained. He
said the danger of an accident in handling or transportation increases
daily.

Ukrainian President Leonid Kravchuk agreed during a meeting Friday with
Clinton and Russian President Boris Yeltsin to ship Ukraine's nuclear
weapons to Russia for dismantling. But many Ukrainians, fearing what they
see as resurgent Russian nationalism and imperialism, are reluctant to cede
their arsenal.

Such fears are likely to increase following an assertion Tuesday by Russian
Foreign Minister Andrei Kozyrev that Russia should maintain a presence,
including military, in former Soviet republics. Kozyrev said a Russian
pullout would open the way for forces hostile to Russia to step into a
"security vacuum," the Russian Tass news agency reported.

"We should not withdraw from those regions which have been in the sphere of
Russian interest for centuries, and we should not fear the words" military
presence, he said.

Kozyrev has generally been regarded as a liberal in international affairs
who opposes Russian bullying. But in the wake of nationalists' strong
showing in Dec. 12 parliamentary elections here, almost everyone across the
political spectrum has been staking out more assertive positions in foreign
policy.

The growth of Russian nationalism is certain to complicate Kravchuk's
efforts to win approval for last week's agreement on nuclear disarmament.

The breakup of the Soviet Union in 1991 left Soviet nuclear weapons in
Russia, Ukraine, Belarus and Kazakhstan. Ukraine Since then, Ukrainian
leaders have promised to become nonnuclear, but resistance in parliament
has stalled all disarmament efforts.

Tuesday, Maslin said there are about 2,000 nuclear warheads in Ukraine,
including 1,300 for SS-19 and SS-24 intercontinental ballistic missiles and
more than 600 for air-launched cruise missiles. Ukraine has 176 missile
silos and about 40 nuclear-capable bombers, he said.

"The condition of nuclear safety in Ukraine continues to worsen," he said.
"A moment may come when (Russian experts) will just simply refuse to accept
such warheads for disassembly."

Ukrainian officials have denied that nuclear weapons on their territory
pose an immediate danger. They also have accused Russians of exaggerating
the risk for political purposes. But this week, falling in line behind
Kravchuk, military and Foreign Ministry officials agreed that the weapons
already pose some risks.